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| Gough Whitlam, Ex-Premier of Australia, Dies at 98 | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| SYDNEY, Australia — Gough Whitlam, a former prime minister who introduced free university education and a national health care system in Australia — and who was also known for eclipsing President Richard M. Nixon’s 1972 visit to China by turning up there first — died here on Tuesday. He was 98. | |
| Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the current prime minister, announced the death. Mr. Whitlam’s four children said their father died in a nursing home. | |
| Mr. Whitlam, who championed indigenous rights and equality for women, led the Australian Labor Party to victory in the 1972 election after 23 years in opposition. Once in power, his administration moved quickly to abolish capital punishment, university fees and military conscription. It also set aside funds for specialized hospitals and created a national health system, which still exists in altered form. | Mr. Whitlam, who championed indigenous rights and equality for women, led the Australian Labor Party to victory in the 1972 election after 23 years in opposition. Once in power, his administration moved quickly to abolish capital punishment, university fees and military conscription. It also set aside funds for specialized hospitals and created a national health system, which still exists in altered form. |
| Among Australians, Mr. Whitlam is credited for his early recognition of the government of China, now Australia’s largest trading partner. | Among Australians, Mr. Whitlam is credited for his early recognition of the government of China, now Australia’s largest trading partner. |
| Mr. Abbott, a member of the conservative Liberal Party, told Parliament on Tuesday: “In every sense, Gough Whitlam was a giant figure in this Parliament and in our public life. Whether you were for him or against him, it was his vision that drove our politics then and which still echoes through our public life four decades on.” | Mr. Abbott, a member of the conservative Liberal Party, told Parliament on Tuesday: “In every sense, Gough Whitlam was a giant figure in this Parliament and in our public life. Whether you were for him or against him, it was his vision that drove our politics then and which still echoes through our public life four decades on.” |
| But Mr. Whitlam is also remembered as the prime minister who was dismissed in 1975 by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, Queen Elizabeth II’s appointed representative in the Commonwealth of Australia, after his government fell into disarray. The move surprised Mr. Whitlam, as well as many Australians, who were unaware that the governor-general could remove a democratically elected prime minister from office. | But Mr. Whitlam is also remembered as the prime minister who was dismissed in 1975 by Governor-General Sir John Kerr, Queen Elizabeth II’s appointed representative in the Commonwealth of Australia, after his government fell into disarray. The move surprised Mr. Whitlam, as well as many Australians, who were unaware that the governor-general could remove a democratically elected prime minister from office. |
| He lost an election in December 1975 to Malcolm Fraser, the Liberal leader who had been installed as caretaker prime minister. | He lost an election in December 1975 to Malcolm Fraser, the Liberal leader who had been installed as caretaker prime minister. |
| Mr. Whitlam’s foresight in recognizing the government of China was remarkable, said Bob Hawke, a former Labor leader and prime minister. Mr. Whitlam’s trip to China in 1971, when he was opposition leader, incurred the ire of the Australian government. | Mr. Whitlam’s foresight in recognizing the government of China was remarkable, said Bob Hawke, a former Labor leader and prime minister. Mr. Whitlam’s trip to China in 1971, when he was opposition leader, incurred the ire of the Australian government. |
| “Trade — wheat — was at stake,” said Graham Freudenberg, Mr. Whitlam’s press secretary, who traveled with him to Beijing. “But it was politically risky to go.” | “Trade — wheat — was at stake,” said Graham Freudenberg, Mr. Whitlam’s press secretary, who traveled with him to Beijing. “But it was politically risky to go.” |
| Mr. Freudenberg described a prevailing view in Australia that the war in Vietnam was one against “the downward threat of China and communism” that threatened Australia. “People denounced China as ‘Red China,’ ” he said. But Mr. Whitlam advocated formal diplomatic recognition. | |
| Members of Mr. Whitlam’s party met Premier Zhou Enlai in Beijing, and then left for Shanghai and Tokyo, even as the United States secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, was slipping into China to arrange meetings between Mr. Nixon and Mr. Zhou. | |
| “It was a coup for Whitlam to have gotten in first,” Mr. Freudenberg said. He added that had he been told at the beginning of 1971 that he would either fly to the moon or go to China, he would have opted for the moon as the more probable destination. “Australia’s relations with China were so fraught at that time,” he said. | “It was a coup for Whitlam to have gotten in first,” Mr. Freudenberg said. He added that had he been told at the beginning of 1971 that he would either fly to the moon or go to China, he would have opted for the moon as the more probable destination. “Australia’s relations with China were so fraught at that time,” he said. |
| Mr. Whitlam returned to China in 1973, as the first Australian prime minister to visit Beijing, and again met Mr. Zhou and Mao Zedong, the country’s top leader. | |
| Mr. Whitlam also publicly opposed South Africa’s system of apartheid, arguing against the sale of arms to South Africa and decreeing that the racially segregated Springboks rugby team would not be permitted to enter Australia, a ban maintained until apartheid ended in 1994. | Mr. Whitlam also publicly opposed South Africa’s system of apartheid, arguing against the sale of arms to South Africa and decreeing that the racially segregated Springboks rugby team would not be permitted to enter Australia, a ban maintained until apartheid ended in 1994. |
| He also granted Papua New Guinea its independence in 1975, after transferring local government functions there in 1973. “It should never be forgotten that in making our own former colony independent, we as Australians enhance our own independence. Australia was never truly free until Papua New Guinea became truly free,” Mr. Whitlam said then. | He also granted Papua New Guinea its independence in 1975, after transferring local government functions there in 1973. “It should never be forgotten that in making our own former colony independent, we as Australians enhance our own independence. Australia was never truly free until Papua New Guinea became truly free,” Mr. Whitlam said then. |
| Edward Gough Whitlam was born on July 11, 1916, in Melbourne. Survivors include three sons, Nicholas, Tony and Stephen, and a daughter, Catherine Whitlam. | Edward Gough Whitlam was born on July 11, 1916, in Melbourne. Survivors include three sons, Nicholas, Tony and Stephen, and a daughter, Catherine Whitlam. |
| Mr. Whitlam was a pragmatic idealist who had been frustrated by Labor’s long period in the wilderness before winning the mandate to govern, Mr. Hawke said, and he pushed rapid change once his government was installed. But this urgency and an inability to manage the economy effectively led to disarray, and Mr. Whitlam’s leadership came to a sensational end. | |
| The conservative opposition, led by Mr. Fraser, in an attempt to force an early election in 1975, used its numbers in the Senate to block the government’s budget. Revelations that two ministers had made covert arrangements to borrow funds — one from offshore to help develop Australia’s resource industries — dogged the government, which also faced an inability to pay its employees. | |
| Mr. Fraser, who demanded an early election, appealed to Sir John Kerr, describing the circumstances as “extraordinary and reprehensible.” | Mr. Fraser, who demanded an early election, appealed to Sir John Kerr, describing the circumstances as “extraordinary and reprehensible.” |
| Mr. Whitlam’s time as prime minister ended, but not his legacy, according to some tributes issued Tuesday. “Gough Whitlam changed the way Australia thought about itself and gave the country a new destiny,” said Paul Keating, a Labor prime minister from 1991 to 1996. “A more inclusive and compassionate society at home — a more engaged and relevant country abroad.” |